Cell-based vaccines

Cell-based vaccines are a crucial segment of the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Unlike microbial vaccine production, which often uses bacteria or yeast for antigen expression, cell-based vaccines utilize cultured mammalian, avian, or insect cells. This allows for the growth of viruses that traditional microbial methods cannot support, offering precise antigen expression and post-translational modifications.

Cell-based vaccines

Cell-based vaccines are a crucial segment of the biopharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Unlike microbial vaccine production, which often uses bacteria or yeast for antigen expression, cell-based vaccines utilize cultured mammalian, avian, or insect cells. This allows for the growth of viruses that traditional microbial methods cannot support, offering precise antigen expression and post-translational modifications.
cell-based vaccine production

Optimizing cell-based vaccine production in early R&D and process development 

In the early R&D and process development phases, cell-based vaccine production involves optimizing cell lines, growth conditions, and bioreactor configurations to maximize yield and efficacy. This meticulous optimization ensures the consistencyquality and economics of the final vaccine product. Unlike microbial vaccines, cell-based vaccines offer unique advantages, including post-translational modifications and precise antigen expression, significantly enhancing clinical research models for efficacy and safety. 


Challenges in cell-based vaccine production

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Process consistency

Ensuring process consistency is pivotal for cell-based vaccine production due to the significant impact that variability in cell culture conditions, such as nutrient supply, pH, temperature, and oxygen levels, can have on vaccine quality and yield. Key challenges include maintaining genetic stability and consistent behavior across different cell lines, as they may respond differently to the same conditions. Precise control of environmental conditions is essential to maintain consistent cell growth and protein expression, as even minor deviations can lead to variability in vaccine efficacy and safety​.

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Quality control

Quality control is important for ensuring the safety and efficacy of vaccines. This involves rigorous testing and monitoring throughout various stages of production. Upstream processes focus on maintaining product quality by optimizing cell culture conditions, ensuring proper protein expression, and verifying the biological activity of the vaccine. This includes confirming correct protein folding, glycosylation patterns, and functional activity.

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Post-translational modifications

One of the primary challenges in developing cell-based vaccines is the complexity of post-translational modifications (PTMs) essential for protein folding and glycosylation. These modifications, particularly glycosylation, are crucial for the antigen's immunogenicity and functionality. Ensuring that these modifications are accurately reproduced cells poses a significant challenge for researchers. The variability in PTMs can result in product heterogeneity, impacting the vaccine's efficacy and safety. This variability requires careful monitoring and control throughout the production process to maintain consistency in the final product​.

Inline SVG icon

Process consistency

Ensuring process consistency is pivotal for cell-based vaccine production due to the significant impact that variability in cell culture conditions, such as nutrient supply, pH, temperature, and oxygen levels, can have on vaccine quality and yield. Key challenges include maintaining genetic stability and consistent behavior across different cell lines, as they may respond differently to the same conditions. Precise control of environmental conditions is essential to maintain consistent cell growth and protein expression, as even minor deviations can lead to variability in vaccine efficacy and safety​.

Inline SVG icon

Quality control

Quality control is important for ensuring the safety and efficacy of vaccines. This involves rigorous testing and monitoring throughout various stages of production. Upstream processes focus on maintaining product quality by optimizing cell culture conditions, ensuring proper protein expression, and verifying the biological activity of the vaccine. This includes confirming correct protein folding, glycosylation patterns, and functional activity.

Inline SVG icon

Post-translational modifications

One of the primary challenges in developing cell-based vaccines is the complexity of post-translational modifications (PTMs) essential for protein folding and glycosylation. These modifications, particularly glycosylation, are crucial for the antigen's immunogenicity and functionality. Ensuring that these modifications are accurately reproduced cells poses a significant challenge for researchers. The variability in PTMs can result in product heterogeneity, impacting the vaccine's efficacy and safety. This variability requires careful monitoring and control throughout the production process to maintain consistency in the final product​.

INFORS HT solutions for cell-based vaccine production



Incubator shaker

Multitron

The INFORS HT Multitron incubator shaker supports early-stage cell-based vaccine development by providing precise climate control, including temperature, CO2, and humidity regulation, alongside consistent agitation. These features create optimal conditions for cell growth and protein expression, including post-translational modifications like glycosylation. The Multitron's ability to maintain reproducible growth conditions is crucial for preliminary studies and initial screening processes in vaccine research. 

While not directly involved in large-scale production or regulatory compliance, the Multitron's reliability in maintaining consistent conditions contributes to the quality and reproducibility of early-stage research results. This consistency is valuable for researchers as they identify promising candidates and establish initial protocols. 

The Multitron is particularly suited for screening multiple conditions and generating pre-cultures for subsequent bioreactor studies. It serves as an important tool in the drug discovery and early development phases, preparing the groundwork for more advanced process development and scale-up studies that typically occur in bioreactor systems. 

Incubator shaker

Minitron

The INFORS HT Minitron incubator shaker is a valuable instrument in early-stage cell-based vaccine development. It provides precise agitation to promote uniform growth conditions, which is important for consistent cell culture outcomes. The Minitron creates controlled environments with optimized temperature and gas exchange, helping to maintain quality and reduce variability in preliminary studies. 

This incubator shaker supports growth conditions that can influence post-translational modifications, potentially affecting antigen functionality. While not directly involved in large-scale production, the Minitron's compact design makes it suitable for space-constrained laboratories. It can be effectively incorporated into early research workflows, supporting initial screening and optimization studies with reliability and efficiency. 

The Minitron's role is particularly significant in the initial phases of vaccine research, where it can help researchers establish baseline conditions and identify promising candidates for further development in more advanced systems. 

Bench-top bioreactor

Minifors 2

The Minifors 2 bench-top bioreactor supports cell-based vaccine development by regulating parameters such as pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. This control helps optimize cell growth and protein expression. Its design allows for scaling from research to pilot-scale production, aiding process development. The Minifors 2's monitoring and control systems enable researchers to adjust cultivation conditions, which can affect vaccine antigen yield and quality. This bioreactor is suitable for various cell types, supporting the development of both viral vector and recombinant protein-based vaccines.

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Consult with our experts

Reach out today to speak to a sales representative to learn how INFORS HT products and services and help optimize your cell-based vaccine applications.

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